Cobblestone Hotel & Suites is considering a New Castle location, but needs a local franchise owner.
Corey Murphy, president and CEO of the New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corporation, spoke at the May 10 Henry County Commissioners meeting to provide an update on efforts to attract a new hotel to the community.
Murphy said the preferred, but not final, location for the hotel is behind Temptations, where the New Castle Inn used to be, at the corner of Midway Drive and Ind. 3.
“We have long known the need…for a limited-service, brand-name hotel,” Murphy told the commissioners. “I’m simply providing you with an update. Discussions continue about raising local investment for franchise ownership.”
According to Murphy, Cobblestone is based in Wisconsin and has 130 hotels in 28 states, three of which are in the Indiana cities of Brookville, Salem and Charleston.
“Their niche is in small communities,” Murphy said. “New Castle/Henry County is on the larger size of the communities they work with.”
A Cobblestone representative was in New Castle May 9 to talk with potential stakeholders.
“They want to do business here,” Murphy said. “We have a feasibility study that says it’s positive. We have a financial performer done by an independent firm that says this is a reasonably good investment. They are seeking local ownership to buy a franchise.”
Cobblestone would be a minority investor in the project, Murphy added.
Anyone interested in the opportunity should contact the EDC office at 765-521-7402, or email Murphy at cmurphy@growinhenry.com.
Spec Building Update
Murphy also updated the commissioners on the EDC’s spec building in the Henry County Industrial Park. The building is currently listed for sale at $3.4 million dollars. The building is 50,000 square feet with 32 feet of clear ceiling height. It is situated on 13 acres of land. The building has the potential to expand up to 200,000 square feet.
Recently, the local EDC responded to a lead from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in which a consulting firm was doing a site search on behalf of a company. The company received over 230 site submittals in at least three different states, including Indiana.
Of those 230 submittals, the list was whittled down to 37. Henry County was one of four sites in Indiana selected to submit a presentation, which Murphy attributes to the spec building.
“Not only is it a physical asset, it’s a tremendous marketing tool for our community to attract investment,” Murphy said, noting that he did not know what happened following the presentations.
– Story by Katie Clontz (KClontz@TheCourierTimes.com) of The Courier-Times. Read more local stories at TheCourierTimes.com.
